For those
who are not familiar with linguistics, there is one definition that is needed to
understand this work
- voiced fricatives - consonant speech sounds (
phones or phonemes ),
that are produced by vibration of the vocal cords and some other speech organ ( such as
lips, tongue, teeth ),
that produce buzzing sounds, such as v , th in "them"
, j , and z.

Note that some
International Phonetic Alphabet (
I. P. A. ) symbols may not appear as they were originally written. Most
I. P. A. characters are
included as GIFs and may not appear in some programs.

- Note also that, despite the finding that the probability that
there is an association between
social approval of violence in a culture and the presence of voiced fricative consonants
in the language of the culture
is greater than 95% in the groups considered here ( see Appendix 2, Statistical Analysis,
last two pages ), this work
only presents evidence of the existence of the relationship. Because the
groups considered in this study - groups for which linguistic and ethnographic information
was available - represent a relatively small sample size, the evidence cannot be reasonably
considered, at the present time, to constitute scientific proof.
Results indicate a relationship that may, in the future, be proven to be both factual and
observable in reality, and may represent a new field of exploration of human consciousness.

There is a definite predictable relationship between the collective consciousness of a
linguistic group and the
phonetic structure of the language of that group. In isolated cultures the relationship is
direct.

In neurological terms stimulation of a given area of the brain causes a given
psychosomatic state. It is
postulated that particular areas of the brain are associated with the formulation of
phonetic representations of
psychosomatic states. It is further postulated that the areas of the brain that formulate
lexical referents (words) tend
to create or use characteristic phonetic representations for given psychosomatic states.

First
Hypothesis of Linguistic
Derivation

The phonetic surrogates of
violence are the voiced
fricatives.

In neurological terms, the area of the brain stimulation of which causes violence, in
its interactions with the
linguistic areas of the brain, tends to produce characteristic phonetic representations:
the voiced fricatives.

In other words, voiced fricatives are phonetic symbols
that, in general, represent
social approval or social toleration of unprovoked violence.

Addendum to First Hypothesis

These allophones form a mutually reinforcing system with the psychosomatic state
associated
with their initial articulation. The verbalization of specific allophones tends to remind
speakers of the psychosomatic
state associated with the creation of a phonetic (lexical) referent for a given
internal-external context. The
unenlightened verbalization of, as well as the unenlightened act of hearing these
allophones facilitates and encourages
( there is no English word known to the author to express the idea of creation of
unconscious cultural patterning )
identification on another level than the level of conscious awareness with the
psychosomatic state associated with the
creation of the referent.

Corollaries to General Theory and First Hypothesis

Corollary 1

In general, the higher the proportion of voiced fricatives in ordinary conversation in
a
linguistic group, the higher the level of violence in that group.

Corollary 2

If a linguistic group includes two or more tribes, bands,
branches, or national groups that
incorporate distinct and differing attitudes toward violence, then, prior to subjugation
by other linguistic groups: 1)
Among linguistic groups with voiced fricative phones (phonemes or allophones) in their
language, the population of the
more violent or most violent tribe, band, or national group should, in general, be larger
than the population(s) of the
less violent group, band, or nation(s); and 2) Among linguistic groups with no voiced
fricative phones in their
language, the population of the less violent or least violent tribe or band (there are no
national languages currently
known to the author in which voiced fricative phonemes or allophones are absent) should be
larger than the population of
the more violent tribe(s) or band(s).

Addendum to General Theory

Nikolaas Tinbergen found that a red area on the stomach of a male stickleback minnow,
or on
the lower half of a minnow-shaped form, acted as a stimulus to other male stickleback
minnows to attack under certain
circumstances1.

The first hypothesis similarly suggests that the verbalization of certain allophones -
the
voiced fricatives - and the unenlightened act of hearing voiced fricative allophones in
normal conversation, acts as a
conditioning stimulus which: 1) acts to suppress natural or innate inhibitions against
violent impulses and behavior; 2)
suggests - unconsciously - to speakers that violence is an unalterable aspect of human
nature; and 3) by suggesting that
violence is an unalterable part of human nature, causes, or contributes to, the
suppression of the individual and
collective will to - and belief in - the possibility of - and ability to -
alter reality on the level of creation of
language - and reduce violence in a culture or linguistic group.

To summarize this in a slightly different form: the hypothesis implies that the
presence of voiced fricative
allophones in a language represents a largely unperceived conditioning stimulus or social
force that acts to shape the
consciousness of individual members of the group; contributes to the creation of a social
environment that essentially
nurtures violence by operating to suppress natural inhibitions (if such inhibitions exist)
to violent impulses, or by
operating as a counteracting force to attempts to socialize inhibitions to expression of
violent impulses (suggesting
that offensive violence is natural and therefore unalterable); and acts to
suppress the individual and collective (communally held) perception of the collective
consciousness as possessing the
ability to act intentionally on the level of creation of language - the level of the
collective consciousness
(the perception of the limits of the collective ability to alter the
collective consciousness) to reduce
violence by conscious, intentional, collective action of the culture or linguistic
group.

For example, the collective consciousness of the English linguistic group accepts
virtually no limits on the
imagination in the area of creation of materials and devices for "national defense" - in
the construction of new, more
effective, and more efficient means to destroy life. However, English culture generally
perceives the individual
consciousness and the English collective consciousness as powerless and unable to act on
the level of creation of
language; or, in some areas, actively opposes efforts to act on the level of creation of
language - the level of
creation of economic and cultural systems - to reduce violence by collective action (such
as efforts to reduce the
disparity between the most economically advantaged, and the least economically advantaged
groups). The English
collective consciousness manifests opposition to action - or a perceived inability to act
- on the level of creation of
language because reduction of unnecessary (aggressive) internal and external violence is
not, at present, regarded as an
important social priority or goal by the English linguistic group - reduction of violence
on the level of collective
consciousness - the level of creation of language - is not, at present, regarded as a goal
worthy of the expenditure of
any significant amount of resources by the English linguistic group.

The theory suggests that the human community - or enlightened
members of the human community
- may well have the power to make use of science - directed by the intent to serve the
interests of the human
community - moral science - to reduce levels of violence in
cultures by conscious, intentional
action - by intentional revision or redesign of the structure of language and,
or of the structure of
other means of internalization and propagation of morality and culture.

At the time that this work was originally
written - in 1976-77 - a tribal group on the island of Mindanao, identified as the
"Tasaday", was purported to exist as a culturally and linguistically distinct group from
other tribal groups on Mindanao. It was later discovered that the members
of the group identified as the "Tasaday" were actually members of a larger tribal group
that was, geographically and linguistically in close proximity to the "Tasaday" on the
island - the Cotabato Manobo group. Information regarding the creation of
the "Tasaday" group was revealed several years after the "discovery" of the "Tasaday" when
the members of the group rejoined the Cotabato Manobo group, and stated that they had been
recruited or enlisted to participate in an elaborate deception engineered and arranged by
an individual with close ties to
the Philippine government at that time, Manual Elizalde, who has since disappeared,
in an apparent attempt to profit from the sale of "stone age" artifacts produced by
members of the "Tasaday" tribe. At the time that this work was written,
no substantial information questioning the accuracy or validity of the identification of
the "Tasaday" group as a culturally and linguistically distinct group from the Cotabato
Manobo group was available to the public.

Whether actual or contrived, though, the
cultural attitudes and perspectives attributed to the "Tasaday" group (absence of internal
and external violence) represented what appeared, at that time (in 1976-77), to be a
reasonable opportunity to test the relationship postulated to exist between collective,
cultural attitudes toward violence, and the presence or absence of voiced fricative
allophones in the language of a cultural group. While the hypothesis
correctly predicted that the "Tasaday" language would have no voiced fricative allophones,
the cause of the absence of those allophones from the "Tasaday" language was that the
Cotabato Manobo language, which, as indicated, was the actual, original language of the
"Tasaday" group, had no voiced fricative allophones in its phonetic inventory.

The part of the work dealing with tribal
groups on Mindanao was a result of an attempt to determine whether the concurrence of the
predicted relationship with reality in the case of the "Tasaday" group was an isolated
anomaly, or represented a consistent pattern among tribal groups on
Mindanao. The preliminary report begins with that part of the
investigation.

Preliminary Report

Attempts by the author to
disprove the predicted relationship are divided into three areas: first, an attempt was
made to gather information to determine whether the predicted relationship existed among
linguistic groups on Mindanao.
Second, an attempt was made to determine whether the predicted
relationship existed among the groups in a random sample of one hundred linguistic groups
drawn from a list of all known languages in the world as of 1966. Third,
an attempt was made to find linguistic groups in which voiced fricative allophones were
absent, particularly in areas in which general levels of violence were relatively high
(New Guinea and South America). ( The first sample drawn by lot produced
only seven linguistic groups in which voiced fricative allophones could be reasonably
assumed to be absent.)

All inferential attempts to disprove the
predicted relationship were based on two assumptions which may or may not have been
correct to varying degrees in different linguistic groups. First, it was
assumed that there was some residual effect of the mutual influence of the phonetic
structure of the language, and the culture that created it, if such influence existed; and
that all such influence had not been destroyed by the effects of cultural interaction at
the time that information was recorded. Linguistic groups were therefore
included in the study only if substantial indications were available from published
sources of the form of the culture as it existed independently of the group recording the
information.
Second, it was assumed that the presence or absence of voiced fricative allophones in a
language was not a result of, or influenced by the effects of cultural interaction, which
may not be the case, as it apparently was not with the Choctaw language (one of the
languages in the first sample of one hundred languages).
Cultural interaction was and is the apparent cause of the presence of a
voiced fricative allophone in the speech of some native speakers of
Choctaw. A voiced velar fricative - International
Phonetic Alphabet symbol - " " - occurs in the speech of some native speakers of
Choctaw1.
However the allophone occurs only in the speech of bilingual speakers of
Choctaw and English, and in the speech of monolingual Choctaw-speaking children of
bilingual, Choctaw and English speaking parents2.

Results of the attempt to determine the
relationship between the presence or absence of voiced fricative allophones and violence
on Mindanao are sketchy. The cultural information concerning the T'boli
and Cotabato Manobo linguistic groups has not been confirmed3.
Most results, as was the description of the "Tasaday" language, are
based on phonemic rather than phonetic descriptions of the languages (except for the
Tiruray and Agusan Manobo languages), creating at least a possibility that some voiced
fricative allophones may not have been described in languages in which such allophones may
not have been used to symbolize a phoneme.
This possibility, while common in some other areas (New Guinea), is
apparently somewhat rare on Mindanao. A further difficulty with the data
considered was the lack of concurrent linguistic and ethnological observations for most
groups.

It appears that the cultures of most tribal
groups on Mindanao are very similar in types of violent practices except for one practice:
human sacrifice. It appears that most linguistic groups which practiced
ritual or ceremonial execution of prisoners of war have voiced fricative
allophones4.

Sufficient information was available to
identify eight linguistic groups and eleven tribes in relation to the presence or absence
of voiced fricative allophones and the trait considered. Of these, the
Cotabato Manobo and the B'lit Manobo are members of the Cotabato Manobo linguistic group
and the Ubo, T'boli and Tagabili tribes are members of the T'boli linguistic
group. The practice of human sacrifice has not been reported for any of
theses groups to the knowledge of the only source available to the author4.

The presence or absence of voiced fricative
allophones and the presence or absence of human sacrifice is indicated for the liunguistic
groups. A plus in the first position following the parenthesis indicates
the presence of voiced fricative allophones, a plus in the second position following the
parenthesis indicates the reported presence of human sacrifice for that
group. A minus in either position indicates the absence of the group of
allophones or the trait considered respectively. Sources are listed in
Appendix 2. The groups are: Cotabato Manobo (- -), T'boli (- -), Tiruray
(- -), Bilaan (- +), Agusan Manobo (+ +), Bagobo (+ +), Manuvu (+ +), and Western Bukidnon
Manobo (+ +). Probability of such an arrangement (seven or more identical
signs) occuring by chance is 9 in 256 or 3.515 %.
Further and more extensive research may revise these probabilities in
the future.

It should be noted that these calculations do
not include the Binukid linguistic group (insufficient ethnographic information in all
probability - - ) ), or the Southern Bukidnon Manobo linguistic
group, excluded due to the possibility of duplication of information.

At risk of appearing to wish to prove rather
than disprove the predicted relationship, I would like to conclude the consideration of
groups on Mindanao with an observation from Kenneth MacLeish describing a group of
Higaonon meeting in a tree house in northeastern Mindanao: "Though I could not understand
the words being spoken around me, I sensedthat there was something remarkable about the
relationship between the speakers. Suddenly I knew what it was; no sound
or sign of antagonism soured the ... atmosphere of the tree house. Here
fifty or sixty related people functioned as a family ..."5.

The second part of the investigation consists
of a random sample of one hundred linguistic groups. A list was compiled of all known
languages in the world as of 1966 based on Index to Languages of the World ( Voegelin, C.
F. and F. M., Anthropological Linguistics, V. 8, # 6 / 7 1966 ). Every language was listed
alphabetically a total of 4,396, and numbered. One hundred non-concurrent four-digit
numbers, each digit ranging from 0 to 9 were then drawn by lot. Each number was then added
to 2, to compensate for the possibility of drawing four-digit numbers less than two and
multiplied by .4399 (due to errors in the original listing) to produce the numbers of one
hundred linguistic groups.

There were
several difficulties with the use of the list in the Index for the purposes of the study.
Due to inadequate information, the authors of the Index listed all dialects or tribal
groups as separate languages when sufficient information was not available to determine
whether descriptions indicated separate linguistic groups, dialects or tribal names. The
index also listed extinct languages, which were generally eliminated from the
study.

Each linguistic group for which the
information was available was classified as to presence or absence of voiced fricative
allophones and approximate relative level of violence.

Several conventions were followed in this
part of the study. A linguistic group was defined as all mutually intelligible dialects
with identical phonetic structures, generally considered to be 80% or more
cognates.

For linguistic groups which
included more than one tribe or separate cultural group, the numerically larger or
apparently original linguistic group was included in the study. The other group or groups
were disregarded in the ethnological
evaluations.

Extinct languages were
eliminated from the study unless phonemic or phonetic information was available from
published sources.

Only linguistic and
cultural information concerning the specific linguistic group considered was accepted.
Information about related tribes or dialects was not included with one exception. The
Bangangte and Bandjoun of the Bamileke linguistic group apparently had virtually identical
internal social structures and information was available about Bangangte external
relations. It was assumed that the two groups had reasonably similar external relations
with other tribes in the area.

Two word
lists from independent sources or a phonemic description of the language were considered
sufficient to establish the presence of voiced fricative allophones. However, only a
complete phonetic description of a language was considered sufficient to establish the
absence of voiced fricative allophones. (A phonemic description of one of the languages -
Wembi-Manem - included no voiced fricative phonemes, but a phonetic description of the
language indicated a voiced fricative
allophone.)

For approximations of the
relative levels of violence in the groups, the author considered such socially approved
violence as: human sacrifice (usually execution of prisoners of war), infanticide, summary
execution of prisoners of war, summary execution for violation of survival-related taboos
(murder, theft, etc.), summary execution for violation of non-survival related taboos,
summary execution for community reprobation - witchcraft, socially approved execution for
any reason, suicide, positive valuation of offensive warfare (glorification of warfare),
ritual torture, ritual mutilation, self-mutilation, violence regarded as a socially
approved form of competition or entertainment, whether actual (boxing) or simulated
(professional wrestling), physical coercion (corporal punishment), and genocide.
Cannibalism, while not in itself violent, would indicate violent groups if regarded as a
source of subsistence. Relative levels of socially condemned violence were also
considered.

At present, the author has
been able to divide linguistic groups into only two groups with any reasonable assurance
of independent concurrence on classifications with regard to relative levels of violence:
"less violent" and "more violent".

The
determination of the classification of each linguistic group was based on two aspects of
the culture: the cultural perspective regarding violence within the linguistic group
(approval or disapproval), and the cultural perspective regarding violence toward other
linguistic groups (positive or negative valuation). If violence was not approved within
the linguistic group or in relations with other linguistic groups, the group was
classified as "less violent". If violence was approved within the group in interpersonal
relations, or if offensive violence was approved in relation to other linguistic groups,
the group was classified as "more
violent".

Further evaluations of relative
levels of violence could be made on the basis of individual violent practices, but the
author has not yet made such
classifications.

The first sample drawn by
lot produced seven linguistic groups in which it could be assumed that voiced fricative
allophones were absent. The seven groups were Iraqw, Tama, Choctaw, Alabama, Quileute,
Catawba, and Tiruray. It is unlikely that further investigation will reveal many more
groups from the first sample in which voiced fricative allophones are absent, as all
available published information known to the author from areas of the world in which the
absence of voiced fricative allophones is not uncommon has been insufficient to establish
the presence of any more groups with no voiced fricative allophones. The first sample
included three linguistic groups from Australia ( Amarag, Jandjinung, and Wanamara), one
from the Philippines ( Tiruray ), one from the northwest coast of North America (
Quileute) and three from southern North America north of the Gulf of Mexico ( Choctaw,
Alabama and Catawba ). Of the three from Australia, (available) published linguistic
information was insufficient to establish either the presence or absence of voiced
fricative allophones for any group.

Of the
seven groups in which voiced fricative allophones were absent, sufficient ethnological
information was available to classify only four in relation to relative level of violence.
The four groups were Quileute, Tiruray, Choctaw and Iraqw. The classification of each of
these groups will be discussed in
detail.

The Quileute linguistic group was
classified as more violent on the basis of two statements by Pettitt. First that "the
Quileute were in fact a rather militaristic group"7 ,and second that "when
someone died, a war party was organized and some stranger was killed
"7. Other reported practices of the Quileute do not appear to
be particularly violent with the possible exception of the initiations and ritual
self-mutilation duringsome
initiations8.

Some of the most
violent practices of the Tiruray linguistic group were: summary execution for
murder9, adultery10, incest11, revival after an
individual was thought to be dead12 and vendetta warfare for
adultery13. Suicide was apparently not
uncommon14. The Tiruray were also apparently involved in
territorial warfare with the Maguindanao, however, the Tiruray involvement was apparently
largely defensive15.

The most
violent activity commonly practiced , though, was tooth filing as an initiation rite
(filing the incisors to points similar to canine
teeth)16.

The author has been
unable to find evidence of other commonly reported violent practices, other than
occasional fights, and physical coercion as a child-rearing practice (slaps, pinches,
beating with a stick )17. The Tiruray were classified as less
violent.

The Choctaw linguistic
group includes two tribal groups: the Choctaw and the Chickasaw. For
statistical purposes, as stated earlier, only one of them could be includedin the
study. Estimates of the Choctaw population in about 1700 were
approximately 20,00018. Estimates of the Chickasaw population
in the 1700's were around 6,00019. Italso appears that the
Chickasaw were to some extent economically dependent on the Choctaw. For
these reasons, the Choctaw were chosen as the representative of the linguistic group for
the study.

A quotation from Swanton
indicates the basis for the classification of the Choctaw: "There were no
complicated religious ceremonials to arrest the attention of the foreigner and the
intelligence of the native, and it is general testimony that the Choctaw were less
inclined to display their superiority to other people by trying to kill them than is usual
even in ' more civilized ' 20 societies. The
significant things about them are told us in a few short sentences: That they had less
territory than any of their neighbors but raised so much corn that they sent it to some of
these others in trade, that their beliefs and customs were simple and that they seldom
left their country to fight but when attacked defended themselves with dauntless
bravery. In other words, the aboriginal Choctaw seem to have enjoyed the
enviable position of being "just folks" uncontaminated with the idea that they existed for
the sake of a political, religious, or military organization. And apparently, like the
meek and the Chinese and Hindoos, they were in the process of inheriting the earth by
gradual extension of their settlements because none of their neighbors could compete with
them
economically" 21.

Some of
the most violent practices of the Choctaw were summary execution and torture of prisoners
of war, and summary execution for murder22 and prolonged
illness23.

In another area of
the world, the Choctaw might possibly be classified as more violent, but due to their
relatively low level of violence in comparison to other groups around them, they were
classified as less
violent.

The Iraqw linguistic
group apparently exhibited a relatively low level of violence. The only
commonly reported, socially approved violent practice in the group, other than community
defense, was clitoridectomy24. Apparently the only other
organized, socially approved violent practice in the group, execution for community
reprobation - witchcraft - was somewhat uncommon. According to Winter:
"The Iraqw are essentially a very peace-loving people without warlike
ambitions"25. "Among the Iraqw themselves fighting, killing,
and warfare were considered morally wrong"26 and "internal strife
seems to have been notable largely by its absence."27 The
Iraqw were classified as less violent.

The author has
completed ethnological and linguistic work on six of the approximately fifty linguistic
groups from the first random sample in which voiced fricative allophones are known to
exist. Of these six, one was classified as less violent, and five were classified as more
violent. The one classified as less violent was Wintu (native American).
The five classified as more violent were Potowatomi, Navaho, English, and Bangangte and
Bandjoun, both Bamileke dialects, and possibly members of the same linguistic group.
However, the author has been unable to find published information on cognate percentages
between the two.

Some details of the
classification of the Navaho linguistic group will be described to indicate the basis for
classification of groups identified as more violent.

Apparently, offensive warfare was highly
valued among the Navaho. Child training for warfare began early - at age
seven to eight. Raids against surrounding groups were apparently
frequent. The Navaho apparently attacked Europeans, Mexicans, and
surrounding native American groups. They apparently attacked other groups
of Navaho for women. They also practiced summary execution for community
reprobation - witchcraft.

Navaho child-rearing practices were
apparently opposed to violence within the family. Their penalties
for murder were apparently less severe than in some native American groups - generally
payment of reparations.

The Navaho were, primarily because of their
warlike tendencies, classified as more violent.

Explanations of the classifications of other
linguistic groups in Appendix 3.

The obvious problem with the data in the
first random sample is the small number of groups in which voiced fricative allophones are
absent, which leads to the third aspect of the study: the attempt to find groups in which
voiced fricative allophones are absent.

As yet, the author has found only one
linguistic group in New Guinea which apparently had no voiced fricative allophones.
This group, the Nimboran of Irian Jaya, while hardly constituting a random sample,
does provide the first substantial evidence against the predicted relationship observed.
The group apparently exhibits a high valuation of offensive warfare - early child training
for warfare - and apparently physical violence by husbands against their wives was common.

In conclusion, the author has inferred that
three
factors tend to influence the levels of violence in linguistic groups.
They are: population density - cultural interaction,
the presence or absence of voiced fricative allophones,
and explicit endorsement of violence in the group.

If the data so far considered are accurate,
the
results of the analysis of tribal groups on Mindanao are consistent with the
predicted relationship. It also appears that, according to the author's evaluation,
the results of the first sample will tend to support the predicted relationship.

If the specific predicted relationship cannot
be
disproved (and can therefore be assumed to be correct), it can be inferred that the basic
postulate of the general theory also cannot be disproved and can be reasonably assumed to
be correct; that at least one psychosomatic state tends to manifest itself phonetically
among
the existing hominids on this planet through a specific group of allophones.
It could be reasonably assumed that certain other psychosomatic states may also
be innately associated with other groups of allophones in the creation of phonetic
representations for those states.

It appears that,
if the data included are accurate, and if the present trend continues in the
first and other samples of linguistic groups, this work represents the
beginning of a new field; the beginning of the study of universal language and
of exploration into the unconscious of social entities.

It should also be noted that
it appears that there is a tautology involved in this theory, if it is correct:
if the voiced fricatives are the phonetic surrogates of violence, then the relationship
is one of which virtually every member of the species is, unconsciously, if not
apperceptively, aware.

Elkins, Richard E., Major
Grammatical Patterns of Western Bukidnon Manobo Summer Institute of Linguistics of the University of
Oklahoma Norman 1970

Appendix 3

Bandjoun

Littlewood,
Margaret, "The Bamileke" Ethnographic Survey of Africa
Western Africa Part 9
Summary execution for insult to
chief P. 116

Bangangte

Egerton, Clement, African Majesty: A Record of Refuge at the Court of the King
of Bangangte in the French Cameroons Summary execution for murder, theft of chief's property, adultery with
chief's wives P. 241-242 Territorial warfare
- offensive and defensive P. 92-94 Physical coercion as
a child-rearing practice P. 239, 302-303